IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 76

[CHAPTER 76]

Chaeng-!

The sound of clashing blades cut through the rain.

This time, Caliph quickly drew his sword and struck the creature with perfect precision.

“Kiik, kigik!”

The Spiculum fell to the ground, letting out a sharp shriek as its wings thrashed after being fatally wounded.

Pressing its body down with the flat of his blade, Caliph checked something, then sheathed his sword with a grim expression.

He crushed the creature hard under his military boot, killing it as he spoke.

“I can’t use mana.”

His eyes narrowed as he sensed danger.

“Who, and how?”

Biterion asked in confusion.

Caliph answered that someone unknown seemed to have prevented ability users from using mana, then stopped a passing carriage.

He took hold of Meyna’s wrist, who looked like she could collapse any moment.

His hand was firm, as if reclaiming something that had been stolen from him only moments ago.

“Get in.”

Meyna, barely keeping her fading rationality together, climbed into the carriage quickly.

Outside the window, she saw Caliph saying something to Biterion, and once Biterion nodded, Caliph boarded the carriage without delay.

He gave the driver his order.

“As fast as possible, far away.”

The sight of Biterion left alone faded into the distance.

Tap.

Tup…….

A large pool of blood dripped from Caliph’s wound onto the carriage floor.

Meyna lifted her gaze from the horrifyingly red puddle.

“What happened?”

Even Caliph wouldn’t have fully understood the situation yet.

She asked anyway, not to seek an answer but to avoid saying anything else.

Words like asking if he was alright, or thanking him.

Pointless comments like being sorry he was hurt because of her.

It had been quite some time since the day he vanished after fighting with Curden.

Never since the day she agreed to work with him had they spent this much time apart.

At first, it felt strange not having Caliph in the house, then sad that she could no longer be with him, then freeing not to constantly serve him anymore, and time passed like that.

She had finally been forgetting him. Almost.

“If we run into each other like this……”

The words slipped out on their own.

Her voice trembled as if she might cry, and hearing it herself made her feel even more miserable.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Caliph asked something terribly unfair.

“Is your stomach still hurting?”

Once was too much. Twice was unbearable.

In the dark, his eyes shone sharply, like those of a beast guarding its mate from an unknown threat.

He was tense, alert, and yet he still looked at her with worried concern.

“I’m fine.”

Meyna answered, trying not to break down, and looked at Caliph’s injured shoulder and the back of his hand in turn.

“What about you, sir?”

“…….”

“This isn’t a situation where you should be asking if I’m fine.”

Hot wind rushed into the carriage.

With a blank expression, Caliph reached out with his uninjured left hand and brushed Meyna’s hair away as it whipped around wildly.

His damp, rough fingertips grazed her delicate earlobe and jawline again and again.

A strange warmth radiated from him.

“Don’t.”

Meyna shrank away, trying to widen the distance, her back hitting the carriage wall.

Kwa-kwang!!

A deafening crash slammed their bodies with brutal force.

Meyna’s body shot forward as if thrown through the air.

Her vision went black.

* * *

“Ah…”

When Meyna opened her eyes with a faint groan, the first thing she saw was Caliph’s arm wrapped around her, protecting her.

The driver was nowhere to be seen, and the yellow horse pulling the carriage stomped and wailed.

*What is this?*

Her limbs refused to move, as if her muscles were startled from the impact, and even turning her head was difficult.

She forced her stiff neck to turn and began to scan her surroundings.

The carriage door had fallen off, and the side was left wide open.

Everything seemed tilted, but it turned out the carriage itself had crashed and collapsed into the ground on one side.

The wheels were surely destroyed by now.

They were lying side by side on the slanted floor, though Caliph’s left arm was holding back the carriage wall, shielding her body.

Without that arm, her head would have slammed somewhere hard inside the carriage.

She might even have been thrown out and hurt far worse.

“Sir Lennox.”

After assessing the situation somewhat, Meyna called him with worry.

His eyes were closed and his head hung low as if unconscious, but thankfully, he did not seem to be.

“Ha.”

With a sound between a sigh and a groan, he withdrew the arm that had been shielding her.

His face contorted with pain as he lifted his eyelids, his gaze sharp from the constant onslaught of danger, scanning Meyna from head to toe.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Meyna checked Caliph’s face, then again his injured shoulder and hand.

Then she looked at the arm that had just protected her, uncertain and afraid of what she might see.

He must have taken the full blow for her. There was no way he wasn’t hurt.

“Damn it.”

Startled, Meyna widened her eyes at the sudden harsh words.

With his torn right hand, Caliph cupped her jaw and yanked her toward him.

“You’re hurt.”

“Are you talking about me?”

Flustered, Meyna ran her hands over her face, trying to find the injury.

Maybe she was too shocked to feel the pain yet.

Caliph held the back of her neck, swept the hair away from her face, and carefully touched near her eye.

“Ah.”

Meyna squeezed her eyes shut as pain finally surged in.

She had hit something in the carriage, slightly tearing the skin near her eyebrow.

“I’m fine. We can go to a clinic or the agency and they can take care of it. You’re hurt far worse than—”

“Wait.”

Caliph’s gaze changed instantly.

His eyes went cold, focused like an animal sensing danger, staring outside the wrecked carriage.

Feeling dread, Meyna followed his gaze.

But all she saw was an endless, lonely forest path.

“We need to step outside and assess the situation.”

Meyna stood, fixing her disheveled clothes, when—

“Don’t move.”

Caliph’s voice was calm, yet overpowering.

Just from that alone, Meyna knew.

Something was wrong.

Chill shot down the back of her neck.

Suddenly she realized how unnaturally silent everything was.